July 15th, 2008

One man must choose between his family and his faith

The Christian samurai film “Good Soil” is now available on DVD. The action drama stars Shin Koyamada, whose film credits include “The Last Samurai” and “Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior.” It is written and directed by Craig Shimahara.

“Good Soil” is a short film (25 minutes) that combines a retelling of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23) with a glimpse of the plight of the Japanese converts to Christianity under the shogunate.

Ships from Europe brought Christianity to the shores of Japan in 1549. For nearly 100 years, the seeds of faith grew under the watchful gaze of the shogun. But the fear of foreign influence eventually gave rise to persecution. By 1624, Japanese Christians had only a few more years of peace.

“Good Soil” is a co-production of Shinca Productions and Endurance Productions, written and directed by Craig Shimahara and filmed in the Los Angeles area.

Masuda Jinbei, a Japanese Christian of the samurai class, draws his strength from his faith, family, and fencing. Life is good, until the shogun decrees a brutal policy of religious cleansing. Now Jinbei must choose between his family and his faith.

The producers believe the film will be a valuable tool to pastors and youth leaders for use in presenting Biblical values in a setting of interest to today’s popular culture, as especially to people intereted in samurai, martial arts, or Japanese culture.

The movie trailer can be found on YouTube, GodTube, and on Christian-Samurai.com.

The “Good Soil” DVD is available for purchase at Christian-Samurai.com and Amazon.com.

Stumped about how to share your faith in Christ with others? Our EffectiveEvangelism.com site assists Christians in effectively reaching out to others with love and truth. Learn about the worldview of the people you meet, ways to share the gospel, read stories submitted by site users, and more.